Gotta Catch ‘Em All – Beery Anxiety Dreams

I often have dreams about beer, in which I encounter rare, exciting new creations and collaborations, or weird methods of dispense (such as beer-gel sachets which you mix into water). More often than not, though, my beery dreams are about missing out: A while ago, I dreamt that I was in a Wetherspoons but there were no Sixpoint cans left, and so I had to drink Punk IPA instead. Despite the fact that I don’t mind Punk, in my dream this was a harrowing moment.

Last night, I had what I believe was the most in-depth and ridiculous dream yet. I was at some sort of huge role-playing festival in the grounds of a country house, where there was a typically ‘craft’, starkly decorated, stripped-back beer bar. There were many hand pumps on the concrete bar, and the pump clips adorning them bore pictures of Pokémon. Now, as any nineties kid knows, the Pokémon motto is ‘Gotta catch ’em all’, in order to become a Pokémon master. The Pokémon featured on the pump clips were the legendary bird-types, which are hard to find, relatively difficult to catch, and those who obtain them are respected. Parallels with the activities of tickers are immediately obvious.

I wanted to try all of the beers on the bar, but was nervous about carrying a flight without spilling it, so I decided to work my way across, two thirds at a time. The member of bar staff wouldn’t give me third glasses, and instead dispensed my beers into champagne flutes. I was also handed a mandatory plate of weird and wonderful street food, which HAD to be paired with the beers, whether you liked it or not (my subconscious clearly thinks I’m a Comment Is Free writer and decided to go all-in with ripping the piss out of the craft scene).

One of the beers was Magic Rock’s Circus of Sour White Wine Lychee, (in my waking life, I had wanted to try this at BrewDog Shepherd’s Bush last weekend, but wasn’t able to be in London) and the other – well, I knew it was some sort of pink special edition fruit infused barrel aged something or other, but couldn’t remember what, and this fact distressed me greatly. Just asking the bar staff didn’t cross my mind. At this point in my dream, I wandered off somewhere else, and when I eventually came back to the beers, they had of course gone, with no chance of obtaining any more.

I woke up feeling rather off-kilter! I think that, having read Brew Britannia, and written it up yesterday, I felt uncomfortably young (hence the Pokémon) and relatively new to everything; five and a half years of committed geekery is nothing compared to most people I know. It was also a reflection on the huge variety we are constantly presented with during this excellent time for craft breweries, and how easy it is to miss out on the one-off special editions.I am aware that hearing about other people’s dreams can be deathly boring, and am surprised if you got this far! Has anyone else had any strange beer-related dreams?